Selective catheterization of aortic branches has been practiced for a number of years and many different catheter tips have been designed. With very few exceptions, however, even though these tips may be curved in various lengths and directions, they are two-dimensional. As a result, selective catheterization of an aortic branch, no matter what the configuration of the tip may be, becomes largely a matter of operator skill and experience.
With such catheters, occasionally with the aid of steering instruments, highly trained operators can usually obtain selective angiograms of adequate quality. In technically difficult cases, however, (e.g. in patients with marked tortuosity, displacement or dilation of the abdominal aorta), an angiographer may fail to catheterize selectively a specific branch of the aorta.
Another problem arises during the selective injection of contrast media into some aortic branches. The injection may be made manually or by power, but with power injection particularly, recoil of the two-dimensional catheters now in use may preclude an adequate filling of the vessel.
The principal object of this invention is to permit less experienced angiographers successfully to perform selective catheterization of aortic branches, despite the condition of the aorta. Another object is generally to facilitate selective catheterization of aortic branches and to stabilize the catheter tip during the injection of contrast media and thus ensure proper filling of the vessel being catheterized.